A MACHINE FOR CLEANING RUBBER SHEETS

Abstract

A machine for cleaning rubber sheets comprises a housing containing at least two rollers mounted one over the other on a framework said rollers being driven by a prime mover. Cylindrical brushes are respectively located close to the said rollers and rotatably driven by the prime mover in directions opposite to those of the corresponding rollers. Water spraying means are provided for spraying water on the brushes: at least one guide member is located near the said rollers, whereby a rubber sheet placed on the topmost roller is conveyed, by rotary movement and guided by said guide member in between the rollers and the corresponding brushes to clean the said sheets. A water tank is disposed below the bottommost roller for receiving and rinsing the said cleaned sheets therein. Speed changing means are provided for changing the rotational speed of the rollers and brushes, whenever necessary. PRICE: THIRTY RUPEES

Full Text

This invention relates to a machine for cleaning rubber sheets.
Rubber sheets are manufactured by cottage industries and supplied to bigger manufacturers for further processing into various rubber products.
Before supplying such sheets for further processing, the sheets are scrubbed and washed to render them clean.
Conventionally, the sheets are manually scrubbed and washed to clean them. Apart from being a time consuming procedure, the exercise is also expensive, involving intensive manual labour, which can usefully be deployed elsewhere.
This invention therefore proposes a machine, for
cleaning rubber sheets, which can turn out a much
larger number of cleaned sheets in a given time than
that which can be obtained by manual labour.
The machine proposed herein has been made simple in its construction and operation, keeping in mind that the

user is usually a villager with limited operational and maintenance skill and resources.
Various other features of the machine proposed herein will be apparent from the following further description thereof given hereunder.
The machine. according to this invention, for cleaning rubber sheets comprises a housing containing at least two rollers mounted one over the other on a framework, said rollers being driven by a prime mover; cylindrical brushes respectively located close to the said rollers and rotatably driven by the prime mover in directions opposite to those of the corresponding rollers ; water spraying means for spraying water on the brushes; at least one guide member located near the said rollers, whereby a rubber sheet placed on the topmost roller is conveyed, by rotary movement, and guided, by said guide member, in between the rollers and the corresponding brushes, to clean the said sheets; a water tank disposed below the bottommost roller for receiving and rinsing the said cleaned sheets therein; and speed changing means for changing the

rotational speed of the rollers and brushes,
This invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, one of various possible embodiments of the machine proposed herein, wherein
Fig.l illustrates the exterior of the machine housing H
Fig.2 illustrates the interior of the housing with two rollers and corresponding brushes supported on a framework within the housing
and
Fig.3 illustrates a separate view of the roller assembly
Two rollers Rl R2 are mounted one over the other on the framework F, said rollers being driven by an electric motor M which is the prime mover.
Cylindrical brushes Bl B2 are respectively located close to the said rollers. The brushes are provided

with bristles along their periphery for providing a good cleaning action.
A guide member consisting of a guide plate Q in the embodiment illustrated is located near the said rollers, whereby a rubber sheet S placed on the topmost roller Rl is conveyed, by rotary movement, and guided by said guide plate G in between the rollers Rl R2ythe corresponding brushes, to clean the said sheets.
Above the brushes Bl B2 is provided a water spraying system, one of various forms of which, takes the shape of the perforated pipes PI P2 which are fed with water from a tank
A water tank W is disposed below the bottommost roller for receiving and rinsing the cleaned sheets therein. The rinsed sheets can be removed from the tank W and sent for drying.
It will be noted that cleaning of the rubber sheets is
a continuous operation. The operator has merely to
place rubber sheets on the topmost roller one after the
other for the cleaning operation to be carried out

continuously.
Although two rollers Rl R2 are provided for the embodiment illustrated, it will be appreciated that more than two rollers, with corresponding brushes, can be provided whenever necessary.
The cylindrical brushes Bl B2 will be rotatably driven by the motor M in directions opposite to those of the rollers near which they are located to ensure a good brushing action.
Speed changing means are provided for changing the speed of rotation of the rollers/brushes. These means, for example, can take the form , among others, of a stepped pulley drive.
It is preferred to have the brushes rotating at a higher rpm than the rollers.
It is also noteworthy that the machine proposed herein is not necessarily confined to cleaning rubber sheets but that this invention also lends itself to cleaning other articles, to which it is applicable.
The terms and expressions in this specification are of

description and not of limitation. there being no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features illustrated and described, but it is understood that various other embodiments of the machine proposed herein are possible without departing from the scope and ambit of this invention.

I Claim:
1 A machine for cleaning rubber sheets comprising a housing containing at least two rollers mounted one over the other on a framework, said rollers being driven by a prime mover: cylindrical brushes respectively located close to the said rollers and rotatably driven by the prime mover in directions opposite to those of the corresponding rollers ; water spraying means for spraying water on the brushes; at least one guide member located near the said rollers, whereby a rubber sheet placed on the topmost roller is conveyed, by rotary movement, and guided, by said guide member, in between the rollers and the corresponding brushes, to clean the said sheets; a water tank disposed below the bottommost roller for receiving and rinsing the said cleaned sheets therein; and speed changing means for changing the rotational speed of the rollers and brushes,
2.A machine for sheets as claimed in
Claim 1 wherein the prime mover is an electric motor.

3.A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the water spraying means comprise perfo¬rated pipes respectively disposed above the brushes, said pipes receiving water from a tank, f lei? i
4.A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the speed changing means comprise a stepped pulley drive.
5.A machine for cleaning rubber sheets substantially as herein described with reference to. and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.